Different Shoes
by Cafe Au Liet
Summary: Professor Dumbledore has an incredible, if insane, idea. To promote inter-house unity and understanding, of course. The students are going to be switching identities! What happens when you don't know whose hair is in your Polyjuice Potion? Dramione.
1. Chapter 1

"No way." she almost shouted.

"Oh, c'mon, Hermione! What's the worst that could happen?" her best friend was trying to appease her.

"Well, you could be pug-faced Parkinson for a whole week. Wouldn't that be great fun?" she retorted.

Harry chuckled. "Well, the worst I could do is Cormac McLaggen." He remembered the Christmas Party Hermione was so eager to forget. She made a face.

"You know we'll only be changing into someone of the same gender, right?" continued the raven-haired boy.

"There are some pretty vile women out there, Harry. What if I get, say, Lavender Brown???" She shuddered.

Harry never understood her intense dislike to this somewhat okay girlfriend of Ron's. It could be something due to that fact, though. He suspected Ron was being held up somewhere with Lavender. He never seemed to have time for them anymore.

"You were the one always excited about school projects." Harry raised his eyebrows at her.

She snorted at the true statement.

"Well, that was before someone came up with this insane idea."

----------

The great hall was filled with the seventh, sixth and fifth year students. The headmaster was in front, patiently waiting for every student to settle down. Soon, silence reigned, for everyone wanted to know about this little experiment of Professor Dumbledore and Professor Slughorn. Professor Dumbledore's voice boomed through the hall-

"Children-" each seventeen, sixteen, fifteen year old student looked at him in disbelief.

"Ladies and gentlemen, then. I believe you've been hearing some rumors about this 'experiment'. Some even hearing it from Professor Slughorn, here." The Slug Club, which sixth years Hermione Granger and Harry Potter were part of, had, of course.

"Now, if you remember, you were taught to make a certain concoction that goes by the name Polyjuice Potion, am I right?" Noise filled the hall.

"Your guardians have been notified, and none have expressed serious aversion to the idea… We had requested the permission of the Ministry of Magic, also. You are to transform into one of your fellow students, and the effect will last about two weeks, at the most and a few days, at the least. It depends on the quality of your potion." Neville Longbottom shifted uncomfortably in his seat, as did some others who were thinking about how they would just be able to scrape a low score on this test, or worse, fail completely.

"This is more like a social experiment." The headmaster said, with a twinkle in his bright eyes.

"That will, of course, promote inter-house unity and sensitivity towards others. Only when we step into each other's shoes, do we become more open-minded to different viewpoints and are able to unite as one."

And everyone in the great hall had mixed feelings of suspicion and excitement.

"There are some rules, though. You may not put in a strand of hair of any person of authority, a teacher, perhaps, in your potion. Any kind of animal hair will lead to disastrous results. Hair strands will be restricted to the students, and only to your gender. During the experiment, you will not be able to reveal who you truly are, only after. Everyone will be informed when each student has changed back. You will only be required to reveal to the person you became how it felt to be as him or her. Then you will write 2 feet of parchment on that, to be passed to Professor Slughorn. Thank you for your time, students."


	2. Chapter 2

Ouch." Ginny Weasley complained, as she plucked a long strand of red hair from her silky heap. Hermione was behind her, in line. She'd taken one off her own mass of curls when she reached the front.

"Thank you, Miss Weasley, Miss Granger." Professor McGonagall dismissed them. They headed to leave the great hall, seeing Luna waving at them, from the entrance.

"Luna! Are you excited?" Ginny exclaimed to the blond once they met up with her.

"No, I'm not excited at all. I rather like the way I am. I don't see why other people are so excited to abandon their own identity." She said in a sing-song-y matter-of-fact voice. Ginny flushed.

"Well..."

Hermione intervened. "It's not as if we have a choice, Luna. Isn't it better to think of it positively and be excited instead?"

The blond looked at her with awe in her expression. Though Hermione could not tell if she was truly surprised or not. "I suppose so..."

That was when someone called Ginny and Hermione from the end of the hallway.

"See you later, Luna."

As they walked away, "Thanks for that, Hermione. I know Luna doesn't mean it, but she does say some unnerving things from time to time..." the redhead whispered.

"Don't mention it." The brunette replied.

----------

"Well, after dinner tomorrow, we'll have to go to McGonagall's office with our flasks of potion, huh?" Ron said.

"Yep. I wonder who I'll get." Harry answered dully, staring at the bright flames... They were in front of the common room fireplace, lazing around.

They had not been given any homework for the day. Their performance in class for the next week was not going to be recorded, but they were still expected to keep up with the lessons.

"What if you get Malfoy, Ron?" Harry mused.

"Are you kidding me??? I'd throw myself off a cliff, if that were the case." He looked horrified at the thought.

"Do remember it's still your body, Ronald. And you can't think of murdering him, as much as he deserves it" scolded Hermione sternly, albeit a smile on her face. The boys laughed.

----------

"Good morning, Professor".

"Miss Granger. Come along now, pick a number."

McGonagall offered her a bowl of colorful candies. Hermione picked a light blue one. The number 25 was carved onto the surface.

"Oh, the blond strand."

She popped the candy in her mouth. All the strands were cut into about 2 inches each.

'Mm... It might be Luna's... But I can't stand her! Though I'd like to give those people who call her names a piece of my mind! She's not that bad.' She thought, while Professor McGonagall carefully dropped the shiny strand into her bottle of potion, which they finished preparing the day before.

"Thank you, professor."

"Good luck, Hermione."

----------

She took her leave and proceeded to the Great hall once more. There they waited for the rest of the fifth sixth and seventh years. And then Professor Slughorn gave then the signal to drink their potions.

"Cheers, Hermione."

"Good luck, Harry."

"I'll see you around."

'Gross. The potion tastes suspiciously like hair gel. A lot of hair gel.' She wondered why Luna would use that much, but then again, she didn't know the girl that well. The potion had turned a shiny, kind of appetizing color of silver. She downed it quickly, as the taste was nauseating her. She felt a horrifying pain in her legs, and felt like something was stretching her taller. It hurt like crazy.

Suddenly, everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione awoke with a start. It was already dark. She found herself on the floor, in a second floor corridor. She slowly got up, and brushed the dust off her robes.

'Green lining?! Shoot. Don't tell me I'm Parkinson!' she rushed off to find the Slytherin common room, and entered using the temporary password that worked for all houses for the moment.

She came to a room with windows draped in green curtains. A dark green that was pleasing to the eyes. The furniture was black, and looked like real leather.

There was something cold about the appearance, very modern, but it was inviting. Inviting her to enjoy the sleekness of the room. She had to agree, Slytherin had style.

She was so awed by her surroundings that she almost forgot to look for a mirror. She turned right, and found a full length one. Aaaaaaaagggggggggghhhhhhhhhh????!!!!

She then heard that strange sound that sounded like someone half shriek and half gasp in a deep voice. And the sound was hilarious. But the brunette, er, blonde, did not laugh. The sound had come from her.

In the mirror, there was a tall, sleek figure that was complemented by the handsomest face.

Now that she could see it up close, she thought it actually quite good-looking. Though she would never ever admit that to the real owner of the enchanting features.

For the one who was staring back at Hermione, smoke-gray eyes widened in shock, was none other than Draco Malfoy.

----------

She reeled back in shock. That is, until she stepped on someone's foot.

"Ouch!" A voice squealed.

"Oh, sorry. My bad." Hermione apologized.

It was even more shocking to hear her own words in the same husky tone.

She looked at the source of the squeal. Pansy Parkinson, or at least some girl who had rotten luck, looked shyly at Hermione.

"Sorry, uhm... Malfoy." She scampered away. 'Pansy, a timid little girl?' She laughed at the thought.

She glanced at the mirror once more, steadying her breaths. She ran the long fingers she found on her hands over the straight but sort of muscle-y chest, and was that a six pack, underneath all that clothing?

She shook her head and decided not to feel further down.

She went to check the notice tacked on the board near the portrait hole. Malfoy, Draco... room 403. Roommates... Crabbe Vincent, Goyle Gregory, Nott Theodore, Zabini Blaise. 'No way.' she exclaimed in her head, leaving the room, planning to talk to Professor McGonagall.

----------

She knocked on the door of her office urgently.

"Come in."

She followed the instruction.

"Mr. Malfoy, what brings you here?" She asked, a concerned expression set onto her stern face.

"Professor, you know that I'm not Malfoy, I'm He.. Her..." She could not speak anymore.

"You know very well that that is forbidden, Mr. Malfoy." The edges of her pursed lips tugged upwards a bit.

"But professor! I'm a female!"

At this the witch's wise features turned into a frown, with more lines than ever. "Are you quite sure, Ms..?"

"Gr.. G.. Oh.. But yes, I'm sure."

"Oh dear."

----------

Hermione, in Draco's body, was sitting in her head of house's office. The professor had gone to the headmaster's office to report the incident.

"Oh Minerva, there's no need to worry." Dumbledore smiled at the frazzled woman.

"No need to worry?! Albus, this is serious. How is she going to live with her roommates?? Worse... Bathe herself??" she babbled, red in the face.

"Minerva, it was just a simple mistake. How were we supposed to tell the gender of a person through a strand of hair? Anyway, the young boy who got stuck as a girl had come earlier. He was not as embarrassed and uncomfortable as much as I thought he should have been. But nevertheless, I enchanted his, rather, her body, so that he would not be able to... Well, see anything he's not supposed to see" he chuckled. "The boy was not flustered but he insisted on respecting the lady's dignity. He actually asked if he could be changed back, but that's just impossible."

McGonagall looked at Dumbledore with suspicion. 'Was it really a mistake?'

And as if he read her mind, he looked at her and winked.

"'Oh goodness gracious." She rubbed her temple with her fingers.


	4. Chapter 4

**Heys. Thanks for the reviews and faves. :) I love em. haha. Ima update sometime this weekend again, i think. yays. You know what? I got the ending fro this. I just don't know how to get there. D: Don't you just hate that feeling? This chapter is longer than the others, haha. And it doesn't end on any climatic note. sorry. :(**

Hermione had been called to talk to the headmaster. He would do something about how she would go about changing clothes and bathing. But she would still have to live with 4 boys for the next few days.

'Gulp.'

It was a long day. She was tired, and trudged up back to the dorms. She went into the bathroom the Slytherin boys of their year shared, wary of who might be there. She was glad the place was empty, but she was exhausted. And the gladness was replaced by an irritated feeling.

She glared at the huge mirror so big that it covered a whole wall. She suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. She also felt a nervousness she recognized she'd only ever experienced minutes before she took her O.W.L.S the year before... _That_ was something.

She was unnerved by the piercing gray eyes, which were staring straight at her.

'Silly. It's your own eyes.' she relaxed her face and smiled, amused.

Then she laughed hard.

Who knew Malfoy actually looked that good with a sincere smile?

She smirked at the reflection, and felt satisfied. 'Yes. This is what he's supposed to look like'.

She raised her eyebrow at herself. At him, actually. And a dark eyebrow shot up suggestively.

She found the Malfoy in the mirror gagging. And she stuck her tongue out at him.

He looked ridiculous, not the usual cool and indifferent guy he was. When he wasn't being hideously unagreeable, that is. She giggled, but after a while wondered what she was doing, making faces at herself just to see how... He looked. After all, it was all just herself. It was never going to change her attitude toward her sworn enemy. He was despicable, a scumbag. Even if he was such a good-looking one.

She'd taken some green pajamas out of Malfoy's closet earlier, and changed into it.

She took off the heavy robes, the cashmere sweater vest, and slowly began to unbutton the white shirt with long sleeves.

'Why are you blushing, Hermione?! You shouldn't overreact. Really, this should be nothing to you.' She practically tore it off her shoulders. She glanced at her reflection, but found she could not take her eyes off it.

He looked... Perfect. Like an angel. Blond hair, fair skin...

She fingered her abdomen.

'He really does have that six pack!'

Her mouth fell open as she stared at her reflection in admiration.

Hermione cursed at herself. 'What on earth are you doing? Stop it!'

Now she trained her eyes on his face again, and off went his slacks. So did his... boxers. She had filled the huge bathtub with water and it was perfect. She got in quickly and sank into the tub, pondering her situation.

Then she finally snuck into her dorm room, late that night. She could hear one of the guys snoring, but she didn't mind it one bit. She fell onto the silky sheets and everything anxious she felt melted away, if just for the night.

* * *

"Hey, you!" a voice shrieked from behind Hermione, in Malfoy form, who was walking down to the great hall that morning. She didn't expect the 'You' to mean, but something about the loud voice was familiar. She turned around to face a Hermione Granger walking briskly towards her. The girl with her body. 'Hey', she admitted. 'I don't look that bad, for a girl. Oh, gosh, now I'm starting to think like Malfoy.'

The fake Hermione opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted. "What do you want, Granger?" the real Hermione said, in what she thought Malfoy would sound like.

"Meet me in the Room of Requirement, before dinner." she whispered to _him_.

_Draco_'s eyebrows shot up. "Are you asking me out on a date, mudblood?" She felt a sick sense of revenge being fulfilled inside her. How many times this guy has called her that, she thought. There was nothing wrong with being a muggleborn. She felt tears at the back of her eyes and decided to look at the Hermione in front of her pointedly. _Hermione_ looked outraged. "You arrogant git. You will meet me in that room, because I need to talk to you!" then _Hermione_ suddenly smirked. "Now wasn't that a great Hermione impression?"

_Malfoy _looked at her questioningly. "You're... A guy?" _he_ deduced.

"Give the girl a prize." _She_ replied wryly.

"But how'd you find out that I was the girl in the guy's body?!"

"From Dumbledore."

"Really??? He didn't tell me... I wondered what happened to the guy with the girl's body."

"Well, I asked." _Hermione_ shrugged. "Hm..."

"Let's not talk now. Later in private, will be better. Whoever you are."

"Just call me Malfoy, and I'll call you Granger. Like how the real ones do." _he _suggested.

"The real ones are on good terms?"

"Well, when they weren't cursing at each other, and calling names, I guess."

"Ah." _She_ nodded.

"So. You're Granger. I'm Malfoy?"

"Cool then. It's brilliant, I tell you! Everyone's staring at us like we've each grown an extra head, or something!"

"The real Malfoy and Granger wouldn't be caught dead talking like this, would they?" they chuckled silently at all the silly-looking faces of shock.

* * *

Hermione, as Draco, ate with Crabbe and Goyle that breakfast. They discussed their own problems about this project.

"I can't believe I'm in Slytherin." Crabbe was saying.

"What were you, originally, mate?" Goyle asked.

"Gryffindor" he grumbled back.

Hermione took an interest to that. "I'm from Gryffindor, too! Uh... Crabbe."

"Ha-ha. So that's why Draco Malfoy's acting really weird."

"What do you mean?" She questioned.

"Nah, nothing. I guess I was used to you making fun of me every waking second." the gigantic Crabbe, timid and laughing meekly was a sight.

"Don't worry, Crabbe, he ain't the real Draco Malfoy. Just some guy from your house! Man, I'm so unlucky. I'm a Hufflepuff, and I can't stand these Syltherins and their schemes. Then I got to be Goyle, the lunkhead. I've got it way worse." Goyle complained.

'You don't know how I've got it.' she thought, as she smiled at him in an I-pity-you way. 'Fake' she thought.


	5. Chapter 5

Draco had potions that morning. She arrived at the dungeons just quite early enough. Blaise Zabini had an empty seat next to him, and she remembered Draco was his seatmate.

"Good morning, Zabini." She greeted him politely. "Is this seat taken?" She'd never had a decent conversation with the guy, due to his prejudice against non-purebloods.

He shook his head in acknowledgement of the vacancy and started to stare at her intensely as she sat her- _him_self down..

"Uhm..."

"Draco Malfoy usually calls Blaise Zabini Blaise" he told her as a matter-of-factly.

"Oh? And why would you know that?"

"Well, just that I'm originally from Slytherin, You could say I knew these two personally."

"Ah. Nice to meet you then, Blaise. I'm Draco to you, right?"

"Right." Blaise smirked at her, still staring.

"What, you've never seen Malfoy up close? I thought you knew him."

"I do. It's just that... You're a different Draco."

"I'm not at all like him. In fact, I hate him."

"What are you, a Gryffindor guy?"

"You could say that."

"Then I dislike you too." He sneered.

"Sorry if he's your friend and all, but he's plain awful to us." Hermione explained and shook her head. She didn't want anyone as an enemy.

Especially not this boy.

Who slept in the same room as her. Who knew what he could do?

Even if he didn't really know she was a girl in a guy's body.

Still.

"He is a tiny bit insufferable, isn't he?" His face showed a small smile.

"Oh, just the teeny-tiniest bit. Only if you squint." she countered, relieved that he was just playing with her.

Blaise laughed.

She'd heard the real Blaise Zabini was serious and not someone to mess with. This guy before her seemed serious and uptight, but there were some times his cold front melted.

He didn't seem like anyone she knew, but he was... Intriguing.

Hermione was determined to get more reactions out of the interesting guy.

* * *

"So, you're a Gryffindor in real life?"

"Yes, I actually am."

"What a nightmare it must be to be stuck in the body of a guy you hate."

"Well, I know he's rotten to us. Is he the same to you Slytherins?"

"Hah, of course not! They're m- we're his friends, actually, it's pretty great of them to put up with his... selfish tendencies... If not... He'd probably be some loser with no friends. Without us."

"Awfully humble, are we? But I don't understand why he insults us."

"He's just probably insecure. Ha-ha."

"And what does he have against muggleborns, anyway?? We're all human."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you a Mud- I mean, Muggleborn?"

"Ah no, not exactly. But... One of my best friends is." Shucks. Slytherins and blood, what the heck is up with them?

"Wait, you're not Potter or Weasley, are you?!"

"And what if I were?"

"No way."

"I can't say, anyway."

"Whatever. You're not. Potter would be out and about with his stupid hero complex, 'helping' other people, and being the teachers' pet. The weasel wouldn't even dare talk to me. He'd be too scared."

"Mm... They're my friends, so don't expect me to agree. And who are you, on the other hand?"

"None of your business, is it?" he raised an eyebrow at Hermione.

"I'll find out eventually."

"I bet you won't."

"You owe me, when I do."

"It's on. As if you'd ever find out. I'll make sure you don't."

* * *

'Potions as a Slytherin was not at all that bad' she thought. Professor Snape seemed to frequently forget that the students weren't themselves.

He'd called Malfoy quite a few times and praised him for his knowledge on the current lesson. She tried her best not to make it obvious that she actually knew the answers to all the questions, because if she started popping her hand up at every question, someone was sure to get suspicious.

The real Malfoy's intelligence probably rivaled her own, but he didn't care to recite much, hardly ever standing up or speaking much in class, when he wasn't saying something malicious about some Gryffindor student or another.

He was quiet in class.

And she found mimicking that extremely hard.

* * *

She met up with herself in the Room of Requirement. There was a couch and some snacks readied for them.

"Uh... Hi."

"Hello, Herm- I mean, Granger."

"Know what, Malfoy? I really hate you."

"Who, me?"

"Oh, no... I just really really hate Malfoy. Not you. Him. Don't you? Oh yeah, you're a girl, you're probably in love with him and his stupid aura of mysteriousness, or whatever you call it." He rolled _her_ eyes.

"No way, he's really annoying, isn't he?" _he _grinned. Funny. This was something _he_ had in common with most people. Draco Malfoy. And how they abhorred him.

_He_'d enjoyed the afternoon with _Hermione._ They'd exchanged notes on how it felt to be as each other's gender. Going to the loo being a pain, and things like that. _Draco_ was determined not to talk to her about _his_ real identity. _He_ felt somewhat uncomfortable with this guy... In her body. It seemed kind of wrong.

But they'd talked about other stuff, like how _she _still thought girls were weird, even as _she_ was now allowed to follow groups of them into bathrooms. _She_ was baffled at why girls never wanted to be left alone in there.

_He _on the other hand, did not understand why all boys wanted to talk about was Quidditch, Quidditch, and more Quidditch. _He_'d always sucked at flying. Even Blaise, who seemed different from other guys, talked a lot about it.

_Draco_ actually thought Blaise was a girl himself, stuck in that body, before she was invited by said boy to play a practice game of Quidditch with the other Slytherin guys.

_Draco_ and _Hermione _spent the day talking away. They warmed up to each other quickly, actually, despite _his _feelings of distrust at first. Then they'd lost track of time, and were soon late for dinner in the great hall.

* * *

They rushed to scavenge whatever their classmates left over.

_Hermione_ kept sneaking glances at the Slytherin table. The real one at said table did not notice, but her seatmate did.

"Malfoy, why's the mu- Granger staring at you?" Blaise looked at her curiously

"She asked me out." Hermione licked the spoon she used to down a delicious bowl of strawberry ice cream.

"She what?? What did you do?" his eyes grew wide

"Accepted, and did, this afternoon" she replied nonchalantly.

Now he looked mortified.

She dropped the spoon into the glass bowl with a loud clatter. "What, because she's a mudblood? Is that why she can't be seen with the great pureblooded Malfoy?? I don't believe it. Have some sense. Your blood does not change who you are! Think about that! Better yet, since you're the stupid guy's friend, talk to him, knock some sense into his head!" She spat.

"You don't know his parents! They wouldn't..." Even Blaise was unnerved by the look she was giving him. Even if that was a face he'd seen his whole life.

"I respect my parents, but no way would I ever let them dictate what I believe in." she got up, outraged and stomped down to the entrance of the hall.

'I'll be sure to let him know that.' he grimaced at the retreating form. 'So that's what I look like, pissed off.'

**Did you get it?? Blaise's true identity? :D :D :D Thanks for the reviews and the alerts and stuff, i really appreciate that some people read this stuff of mine.**

**And I know, I totally shouldnt have made everyone switch identities. I get so confused myself, haha. But I got a sorta solution to that. C: Whee. Thanks again. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

SHucks. I'm the worst updater. Sorry for the huge delay, but I'm back with the next chapter. C: Hope you enjoy. Feel free to go back and review the story. Hehe. ;) Thanks so much for all the reviews, especially the one who took the trouble to pm me. C: Thanks lots.

The next few days were riddled with mistakes on Hermione's part as she tried her best to not show she was of the wrong gender. She'd tried to enter the ladies loo more than a couple of times to call mistakes.

"Malfoy, I know you look effeminate, but don't push your luck." a brave soul jeered at her. (Maybe 'cause they knew it wasn't the real Malfoy.) She'd end up flustered and would instead head back to the bathrooms in the dorm. She never really got the hand of well, using the toilet, especially in public, in her new body. She was not having so much fun with Malfoy's body. Different girls jut kept throwing themselves at her, thinking they'd at least be able to get Malfoy's body, if not the stubborn guy who refused all of them for some strange reason. She'd found herself hugged or jumped on by a few everyday. Once, she'd even found herself locking lips with some foolish girl who she pushed away, maybe a bit too forcefully, but she was so digusted that she ran to rinse her mouth out. Who knew Malfoy was so sought after? True, he was hot. But were all those girls seriously blind to who he really was inside?

Ugh.

Just a few more days, she always reminded herself.

Students had started changing back. It wasn't uncommon fo doubles to be around. She'd even seen two Neville's. Apparently, Neville had been 'Crabbe' the whole time. She also suspected Justin Finch-Fletchey to be 'Goyle'. 'Knott' had turned out to be a Ravenclaw guy. 'Blaise' disappeared around last night, but she never did figure out his identity.

She regretted that. She should've taken the chance when she had it.

Oh, but she didn't know the real Draco Malfoy was now back.

* * *

"Get off."

"Mmm?" She woke up to something scary. Malfoy was at her bedside. She suppressed a yelp and rolled over, to find herself on the ground. She'd gone headfirst onto to the floor and thought she would've broken something if not for the lush carpeting that cushioned her fall. Nevertheless, "Ouch."

Malfoy approached her and proceeded to peel off the t-shirt he was wearing. It was only when he'd unbuttoned his pants did she realize he was stripping. Still on the floor, she was horrified "What are you... In front of a gi-"

"I'm changing. Been wearing these clothes since before I fainted and transformed back. Who knows how long that took. What's wrong with that?" He turned to the closet that was right beside the bed, a befuddled look on his face.

She looked away to get herself up from the floor right before he pulled his bottoms off.

"What? Why are you embarrassed? You've already seen all of me, I suppose. Weirdo."

Well, she couldn't really explain her eyesight was magically blurred when the bottom part of her borrowed body was ever not covered up, like whenever she showered or changed her clothes. She blushed red but grabbed a pair of jeans and a button down shirt that was similar to the ones the real one put on.

"You're using my clothes?" Draco Malfoy's eyebrows shot up.

"Why not?" she challenged. What was she supposed to wear, her skirts and blouses?

"Means more laundry for me."

"As if you do your own."

He chuckled. The guy was right.

It was Saturday, and they had a Hogsmeade weekend.

"C'mon, not like I'd made any plans with anyone else." the real blond made a gesture for her to follow him.

* * *

"So, whom were you transformed as?" she'd been curious about it all morning. They were eating brunch in an Italian pasta place, and it was just too delicious. 'I should remember to bring Harry and Ron to this place.' she thought.

He swallowed what was in his mouth before he spoke. Perfect manners. But then ruined the effect by smirking at her. "Why should I tell you?"

"Why not?" but she dropped the subject.

Silence reigned, but it wasn't uncomfortable. She actually liked it. She hated small talk, unimportant and a waste of her time. Peace and quiet she liked better.

After that lunch, Draco decided to walk down the street, and Hermione followed, a few paces behind. Every female they passed by had stared. Two Malfoys, what a dream come true. She scoffed to herself. Every male around them on the other hand, had looked at them with either expressions of awe or jealousy. Everyone felt distant, from where she was. They were contented to stare, and not approach. She thought they might also be scared, but something was wrong. It was what she imagined someone like Luna had experienced. Isolation and ostracism. She was pretty sure Luna didn't really care, though.

"Are they always..." she murmured.

She wasn't sure whether the blond had heard her, but he suddenly grumbled "I don't give a damn."

Draco Malfoy had never been really intimidating. He just usually had big thugs around him. But since the start of this year, he'd changed. Like he suddenly grew up. He was most of the time alone... Solitary.

"It isn't normal, right?"

"They're afraid of me. What can I do about that?"

"Something. C'mon."

* * *

They walked back towards the castle. "Hey there!" she suddenly exclaimed and smiled to a couple of second years they passed by, who looked utterly flabbergasted.

"Ahhhhhh!!!" their eyes grew wide and they sped off to the other direction.

She started to laugh.

Malfoy came up behind her. "You!..."

"I just... Haha... Said hello! Ahaha." she said, clutching her stomach. "What do you do?!"

"Nothing! He replied, half annoyed. But not angry. It was too silly, how he just saw 'himself' trying to be 'nice' to a couple of second year wimps. "They're the ones being weird."

"Pfft."

This was when they heard the shriek.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! Two Malfoys?! I can't believe it!" the girl who emitted the shrill sound added. They both turned to her. "Who's the real one???" Draco was about to point to his doppelganger, just so he wouldn't be subjected to the probable, inevitable madness. Typical fangirl stuff is bad, yet _this_ girl?... But Hermione opened her mouth first. "He is."

Malfoy closed his eyes in exasperation. 'Great. There goes my plan. This is crazy. Why's Wea-' his thought got cut short by a sudden force pulling behind his neck so he had to lean forward. Then he felt soft lips crash a bit harshly against his own.

To say Hermione was shocked was an understatement. "Ginny Weasley?!" oddly, she felt compelled to stare at the blond and the redhead, you know, …kissing.

Draco had some sense to finally tear his lips away, but still he was quite stunned.

The redhead turned almost violently towards the fake Draco. "I'm not really Weasley, duh!" she made a face.

"What, you felt empowered by the fact you aren't who you are so you took advantage of it? You are such a... I mean, even at the account of the real Ginny Weasley's reputation?" Hermione spat out, disgusted. Ginny would never throw herself at a guy that easily, especially not at one Draco Malfoy. No offense meant. Just... 'I can't believe...'

"Mm... To kiss Draco? Pretty much! It was worth it. See you later, Dracoooo!" she sent him a flirtatious look. To Hermione, she scowled, and said "I hope you go back to being your loser self, you don't deserve that gorgeous body, you fake." as she skipped away toward Hogsmeade.

Draco was still kind of far away. Hermione had to pull him along.

They'd walked back to the castle in silence.


	7. Chapter 7

"Are you straight?" she'd suddenly popped the question when they approached the thankfully deserted corridor.

"What?!" he looked at her, his cool countenance suddenly betraying him. "What made you think I'm gay?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"What is?"

"Since you avoid all girls, no matter how pretty, or even nice."

"And so... That makes me gay."

"There's a chance. The good looking ones, especially."

"... Did you just say I look good?"

"Well yeah, no matter how rotten you may be, doesn't change the outside." he winced playfully. "You're... Hot." 'Did I just say that?' Hermione thought, shocked.

"Are YOU gay?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Ah? No, I like b- girls!" Hermione bit her lip. That was close.

"Then we have similar tastes." He chuckled and continued to walk.

-----

Ron had turned out to be transformed as Hermione. He confessed to her when he showed up at their usual meeting place- he'd wanted to find out who he really was, because he was kind of... attracted to her, in his exact words. She did not tell him, as she didn't return his feelings. She was relieved. This person had grown farther away from her, as friends, because of that… flirt, Lavender Brown! She admits that she used to like him, but now… Something at the back of her mind was telling her differently.

------

It was a good thing some of their real roommates were not yet back as Hermione really, really did not want to share a bed. She just told him she thought he was hot, for goodness' sake, as a guy! As if that were anything but awkward. That night, she took another pair of Draco's pajamas and settled down on Blaise's bed, situated between Draco's and Crabbe's. Too bad the real Crabbe snored even louder than than Neville. She lay awake in bed pondering her situation once again. Here she was in the Slytherin boys' dorm. Spending her past few days with these mysterious boys. There was something absurdly wrong about it. Yet with Draco and the rest of them, it felt all right. Could have something to do with the fact that Draco and his other roommates thought she was a guy, but still. He was not such a pig after all. Just to Gryffindors. He'd grown up a bit, after the summer. He was more mature, not pettily making others' lives miserable. She'd also discovered Crabbe and Goyle had differences, the thugs. And that Goyle very much excelled at Sudoku. She laughed out loud, albeit softly.

"What's so funny?" a voice came from her left. Draco.

"Goyle does Sudoku." she whispered.

He chuckled. "Yeah, he's an expert at it."

She stared into the dark.

"Why are you so different, Draco, from before?"

"Why do you ask weird questions, like we're girls, or something?"

"I asked first."

"There's something really feminine about you, you know."

She bit her tongue.

"You seem like a good guy though, for someone from Gryffindor. You remind me of Blaise. Except different. ... So I'll say: I have changed. But I'm not telling why. It's just that I've realized there are bigger things out there. More important things. School might've seemed the world to us, but I just recently discovered it wasn't. Something like that."

"Yeah... School has that effect on you. You feel like you're never going to leave this safe haven and have to face even more hardships outside. Back then, I thought failing an exam would kill me. Then I realized that there's more chances of that with Vo- I mean, You-know-who and his followers, out there."

He was silent, and after a long pause, Hermione thought he'd fallen asleep. But then he spoke up.

"Draco," he called out his own name, but Hermione knew he meant her.

"Yes?"

"What do your parents do?"

She suddenly panicked. They were dentists. He wouldn't bloody know what dentists were. And where did that question come from?!

"They're... Healers." she settled on that.

"Do they expect you to become a healer too?"

"Well... Not exactly. They think I'm destined for greater things." like being a witch, for example.

"Sometimes I feel like my parents are putting too much pressure on me to be like them." he continued.

'Wait, death eaters? So Harry could be right?' She wondered. She almost said it aloud. "But you don't really want to, do you?" she prodded.

"Yeah... I don't." That's great.

"It's up to you, you know."

"I guess... But when it's a matter of life and death..." he mumbled.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing... Thanks. For listening."

"Yeah. We better get to sleep. It's 2 am."

----------

(It has been exactly twelve days since the experiment started, and she's spent time with Draco for about half of it.)

----------

There was something wrong. Hermione could not bring herself to fall asleep. There was this recurring pain in her head. It was pounding, hard. She sat up and glanced at the clock. 4am. She got up to go to the infirmary.

"Draco? You alright, mate?" Nott asked, half asleep when he'd noticed Hermione.

"Yeah, I... I'll go to the hospital wing. My head is killing me."

"Do you want me to come? You don't look so well."

She was surprised at the boy's concern, but she probably looked like hell. She opened her mouth to decline, but someone beat her to it.

"I'll accompany him. It's my body, right?" the blond attempted some humor. But between the fact it was the wee hours of the morning and the seemingly intense pain Hermione had going on, nobody laughed, though they were all semi awake by now.

She tried to smile appreciatively at him, but the headache caused her to lose her balance. "Woah." Draco reached out to support the body that looked exactly as his. "We better hurry."

----------

They were already in the corridor when she realized the cause of her headache. Then she winced at the searing pain that was starting to form her limbs. She was changing back. Her body was shrinking back to its original size. Her companion noticed it too, she was getting shorter, and started walking at an even slower pace than before. Hermione then felt herself being pushed up against the wall by the real owner of the body she had been recently occupying.

"You're changing back."

She did not respond, and instead clamped her eyes shut. The lean muscles were changing, and her chest reappeared.

"So you're really a..." he held her down by her arms. He'd noticed.

"G... Girl." She whispered.

"Good, I'd been wanting to do this."

She didn't know if this person leaning on top of her, lips pressed to her own, was the reason her knees felt weak and ready to buckle, and the reason why her insides were practically melting at the moment of pure bliss, but she knew it wasn't the cause of the pain that was slowly engulfing her. 'No... I'm really changing back... I can't let him see...' She panicked.

"We can't..." she broke off to catch her breath, and that left Draco blinking in confusion.

"What?? Finally, I find out you're not a guy, your questions finally make sense, and that these feelings... weren't wrong after all..."

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she felt her own long bushy brown hair fall around her face. "I'm not... I... I'm a MUDBLOOD!" she cried.

And she felt the hole of emptiness in her chest sink even deeper.

She knew it could never have been. As clichéd as it was. She just wanted to run away as fast as she could go without daring to look back. So she did. She broke free of his hold when he momentarily slackened his grip, probably because the revelation. She ran. Ran away from the heartache she was ultimately going to face either way, away from the irrational prejudice of blood and status, away from everything she never ought to have had hope to change.

Away from him.

Cold numbed her body, even though she already felt absolutely frozen inside. She surveyed her surroundings and found herself outside, in the snow. She was shivering, a single layer of clothing on her. The sprint and the pain that preceded her transformation took pretty much everything out of her.

Her head was still pounding, now as hard as her heart was, and the white snow around her started spinning.

"Grange-"

------

"-ger! Granger!"

"Hermione!"

'What? Was that... A dream?'

She opened her eyes and was immediately blinded by the sunlight streaming in from the windows in front of her. She blinked a few times and brought her hand up to brush long strands of hair away from her face. 'Wait a minute. Long brown hair?!' she slowly sat up and found herself face to face with someone whose haircolor blinded her even more than the early morning sun. 'Draco.' Of course it didn't help that there was a bright orange head to her right. 'Ron?'

"Hermione, are you alright?" Ron spoke up first, though the two guys' eyes had not left her face even once.

"I... Malfoy." she stuttered out.

At this Ron's expression grew perplexed.

"Malfoy? Hermione, did you hit your head too hard when you collapsed?" Ron stood up in disbelief.

"Weasley." an icy tone filled the silence.

"What, ferret?!"

"Give us some privacy, will you?"

"I'm not gonna leave-"

"Ron, don't go." Hermione cut in and looked at him, pleading him to stay. She did not want to be left alone with Draco. Not right now. She wasn't prepared. At all.

"See? Even Hermione doesn't want me to leave, so who're you to bloody tell me what to do?!" he retorted.

"Well, don't say I didn't bloody warn you." He sighed. "I hadn't planned on an audience. Hermione, they'll talk, but I don't give a damn." He said under his breath, but Hermione heard, and he smirked, right before her senses decided to leave her as Draco kissed her with more fervor. She felt herself weakening against his hold, one hand on her back while the other supported his frame on the bed, and having Ron three feet away didn't bother her as much as she thought it would've.

"Malfoy, you bloody git!"

'Oh Ron...' Surprisingly, all she did was smile against the lips pressed to her own.


End file.
